He was the centerpiece of talented Oklahoma City teams that lost in the playoffs’ first round the past three years to not-great Portland, Utah and Houston teams.

Then there’s the staggering contract. Westbrook costs more than a quarter of a team’s NBA salary cap at $38 million this year. That rises to $47 million when Westbrook is 35.

So what is he worth?

The Heat want Westbrook or all this noise would have ended. Oklahoma City wants to complete its teardown with a trade, and Westbrook clearly wants to come to the Heat or, again, everyone would have moved on by now.

This continued delay between first idea and announced conclusion seems good news for Heat fans. As we move into day five of the talks, it’s good to see there is more than a shiny object in Westbrook. The Heat is too smart to jump at a big name by simply tossing their decent young players at Oklahoma City.

The Thunder got a haul of five first-round picks and a couple of worthy players for Paul George from the Los Angeles Clippers. But break down that deal. The Clippers actually were trading for George and free agent Kawhi Leonard. They had to close that deal.

Plus, the value of the picks isn’t as golden as it sounds considering all but one will be lottery protected. By Heat drafts, the four non-lottery, first-round picks in that Clippers trade translated into this from recent Heat drafts: Wayne Simien, Norris Cole, Arnett Moultrie and Shabazz Napier. Impressed?

So the issue isn’t just whether the Heat should want Westbrook. You can see why they do. He’s a top-15 player in the league. They need someone to help Jimmy Butler.

The issue becomes what value he’d bring against his cost. Without Westbrook, the Heat look like a sixth- or seventh-rated team in the East next season. With Westbrook, the Heat could move as high as the fourth-best team in the East next season. Philadelphia, Boston and Milwaukee have deeper talent and stronger stars than a Butler-Westbrook pairing.

That’s not even getting into the Western teams. Do you handcuff yourself for the next four years with Westbrook’s contract for that?

The Heat is up against the hard salary cap, too, meaning any trade must match dollars for this to work. It has no first-round draft pick to trade for eight years (though a third team could get involved to pass Oklahoma City a draft pick).

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Goran Dragic ($19.2 million) is the first suspect in a trade considering he’s in the last year of a contract, a fact any future team would appreciate.

Oklahoma City also must want some of the Heat’s youth such as Bam Adebayo, Justise Winslow, Derrick Jones Jr. or first-round pick Tyler Herro. Each could serve a role in rounding out a good team. Adebayo, Jones and Herro especially have games to match this era.

This is Riley’s dilemma here. He loves getting a whale. He loves to live in the moment. He builds championship teams with good regularity. He’s also made mistakes with contracts in recent years that have hamstrung the team.

Westbrook would be a contract this team can’t get out from for four years. All the fans clamoring for him today should be willing to live with the consequences of a 35-year-old Westbrook consuming a $48 million paycheck.

How it look for a similar idea of Detroit deal for an expensive and aging Blake Griffin? Not good.

Detroit isn’t a free-agent destination in the manner South Florida is, either. That gets to more options for the Heat. More future questions.

But it’s really the Heat that hold the decision on this. More and more, they have the leverage, it seems. Oklahoma wants to get from Westbrook’s contract. The Heat could put Goran Dragic ($19.1 million), Meyers Leonard ($11.2M) and Winslow ($13M) in a deal without sacrificing too much of the future.

Add any more youth and the electric game of Westbrook isn’t worth the expense. The Heat signing Herro on Wednesday means the Heat can’t trade him for 30 days. That might say they value him too much to trade. Still, the question of the offseason is simple and so serious when you walk around the issues.

What is Westbrook worth? And is he worth handcuffing the Heat with that contract for the next four years?